Strange Boy in a Strange Land: Is It Time for His Return?
By Jacob Isom |
December
1, 2001
What a wonderful thing it is to go
camping. The heavenly smell of soggy peanut butter sandwiches prepared delightfully six
hours before, the sound of mosquitoes buzzing all around, the beautiful sight of the trees
and waterfalls along dirt pathways, and the gentle breeze that swiftly makes its way in
and out of the moss-covered trees. What could be better?
Such is the case with two certain
Odyssey kids named Mandy Straussberg and Sarah Pratchet. Having driven for a very long
time to a very far off place, Sarah and Mandy are expecting a relatively good time.
Smelling the soggy peanut butter sandwiches prepared delightfully six hours before,
hearing the sounds of mosquitoes buzzing all around, seeing the beautiful sight of the
trees and waterfalls along dirt pathways, and feeling the gentle breeze that swiftly makes
its way in and out of the moss-covered trees. But...
...Such is not the case...
This is only my hypothesis as
to what actually happens in Strange Boy in a Strange Land (written a week before
the actual airdate), so anything can happen. Sarah and Mandy soon will notice that not
only are they away from Odyssey, but someone else from Odyssey is there...spying on them!
According to Sarah during the episode teaser, "If there's someone up in a tree
watching us with night vision goggles at 4:00 in the afternoon, who else could it
be?" Well, from that, I made the inference that Jared is up to no good again. What
makes it even more odd is that Jared doesn't live in Odyssey anymore and he's still up
to no good.
What will this mean for the future of Adventures
in Odyssey? Is it possible that Jared is running away from home and wants to go back
to Odyssey? Or is his family camping conveniently in the same region at the same time that
Sarah and Mandy are?
Being an AIO fan, I was immediately
overpowered with excitement because I loved Jared DeWhite's character. He was very much
like a previous character, Lawrence Hodges. But many AIO fans didn't like Jared. "His
voice didn't fit in with the rest" and he was generally annoying. Not to me. He and
Dwayne Oswald were two of the best two new characters on the show, and they mysteriously
disappeared.
Does Jared's sudden appearance (if he
even plays a part in this episode) mean that he will return to Odyssey as his good old
self again? Will he be up to no good once more? What will this have in store for the
storylines on Adventures in Odyssey?
It's interesting to point out that
Brandon Gilberstadt, the actor who played/plays Jared DeWhite, went on to play in a
television series, The 100 Deeds of Eddie McDowd. It's also interesting to point
out that that show is already long gone and Jared's character is an old issue. But a ray
of hope is probably entering a lot of AIO fans' heads as we approach (or have already
approached if you're reading this after the episode aired) this new show. Many fans want
Jared's rowdy side back into Odyssey. They want him to sneak into the "Super Secret
Sisters Club" with a remote controlled car and a walkie-talkie. I want his
"Miss Friendship" side to take some new roads in the future. We want
Jared back. But will he come back?
Everyone will always question why Focus
on the Family writes its episodes the way it does, but we'll never know until the episode
airs. Even after an episode airs there are massive responses. Adventures in Odyssey needs
to be careful... to make sure they keep their audiences happy. My example being the split
episodes era. It's been ditched because of the massive negative responses.
Only the future will tell us what will
become of Jared DeWhite or possibly "the kid in a tree with night vision
goggles." Will Jared move back to Odyssey? One suggestion you can use is: write to
Focus on the Family with your opinions and ideas. Maybe if they get enough responses,
you'll see Jared again!
Will Jared return? All these questions
and more will be covered during future shows.
Back to Articles
|
